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Abbreviated Pundit Roundup: 20 years later [1]
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Date: 2023-03-21
Speaking of former Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al Zaidi … Richard Hall of The Independent interviewed al Zaidi a.k.a. “the shoe-thrower.” Mr. al Zaidi says that he has no regrets for his actions.
“This is a farewell kiss from the Iraqi people, you dog!” Mr al Zaidi shouted, before launching his shoe at the American president. Within a second, his second shoe came flying, followed by the words: “This is from the widows, the orphans and those who were killed in Iraq." Mr Bush was able to dodge the leather projectiles, but the size 10 shoes still left a mark. Mr al Zaidi became a local hero and global celebrity — a symbol of the anger felt by many Iraqis after their country was left devastated by the US invasion. Americans back home got a small glimpse of that anger. This month marks twenty years from the start of the war, and yet Mr al Zaidi is not ready to forgive. [...] “The occupation has gone, but they left behind more corruption, more problems, many militias. Now we have more problems every day. Iran controls Iraq because of the occupation of the US. There is no service for people, there is not any government support. No hospitals, no schools,” he tells The Independent by phone.
Christopher Chivvis of Just Security wonders if the United States has taken to heart some of the lessons that we should have learned from the Iraq War.
Twenty years ago, the United States invaded Iraq with faulty intelligence, inadequate planning, and the impossibly ambitious aim of constructing a new Iraqi nation to American specifications. The result was over a trillion dollars lost, thousands of U.S. service members killed and wounded, hundreds of thousands of Iraqis dead, a major setback in the war against al-Qaeda, irreparable damage to America’s global reputation, and tears in the fabric of American politics and society. These enduring legacies of the war have served as a cautionary tale for future military interventions in the region. […] Open debate is crucial for avoiding strategic tunnel vision. The Bush administration – and much of Congress – failed to place the problem of Iraq in the broader context of America’s interests and role in the world. This strategic tunnel vision helped justify terribly high human and financial costs, while blinding those who favored the invasion to the ways it would damage other vital U.S. interests, such as the need to destroy al-Qaeda, the preservation of a rules-based international order, and diplomatic relations with allies and adversaries. One of the main reasons U.S. leaders developed strategic tunnel vision was that they sidelined serious critics. For example, former Assistant Secretary of State for Middle East Affairs and current director of the CIA William J. Burns wrote a now legendary memo outlining the risks of war, only to be ignored. Secretary of State Colin Powell also reportedly didn’t feel comfortable telling Bush he opposed the war. In the United Kingdom, the Blair government made the same mistake, ignoring or sidelining internal critics who questioned the march toward war. A more open debate about the policy options that included these critics would have provided crucial geopolitical context, underscoring the longer term risks and potential consequences of the war.
Mariel Padilla of The 19th News reports about the record numbers of women that served in Iraq, and policy changes in the types of service that women perform—among other things.
In the 20 years since the United States invaded Iraq, over a quarter of a million women have served there, the largest-scale and most visible deployment of women in U.S. history. More than 1,000 women had been injured in combat and 166 killed as of 2017, according to the Service Women’s Action Network. The capture and rescue of Pfc. Jessica Lynch made headlines early in the war, and women were among the service members named in the 2004 Abu Ghraib prison abuse scandal. The United States formally withdrew its combat forces in 2011, but maintains a military presence. The increase in women soldiers, and the visibility of their service, was integral to the military’s mission and ultimately led to major policy changes like the removal of ground combat restrictions for women. Still, according to experts, many women veterans of the Iraq War remain invisible and unrecognized among the larger American public.
Michael Kranish of The Washington Post offers a long and deep dive into Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’s service as a Navy lawyer at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.
Seventeen years later, as the governor of Florida and a potential 2024 presidential contender, DeSantis has largely skimmed over his experience at the base, giving it a brief mention in his new book, “The Courage to Be Free,” and rarely speaking in depth about his actions in Guantánamo — where prisoners have alleged they suffered abuse and human rights violations. Independent groups have decried their treatment, with the U.N. Commission on Human Rights concluding that force-feeding amounted to torture, and the International Committee of the Red Cross reaching a similar conclusion about overall conditions at the prison — both claims that the U.S. military has denied. […] Over the course of nearly a year traveling to and from the base, DeSantis met directly with lawyers and detainees to hear their complaints as they were held without formal charges. He walked through corridors of steel mesh enclosures, “looking eyeball to eyeball with a lot of the detainees,” according to his commander, Capt. Patrick McCarthy. And he spoke regularly with McCarthy and others about pressing legal issues. His own account of his service at the base and those of his associates also makes it clear that it was a transformational experience that hardened his views about politics, conflict and the Constitution. He has repeatedly argued that the United States was correct in imprisoning detainees outside the legal system, and after joining Congress in 2013, he became a leading voice to keep the prison open, even though few of the detainees there were ever charged and most have been released. He has described the hunger strikes as part of a “jihad” against the United States, and characterized claims of abuse from detainees and their lawyers as attempts to work the system — foreshadowing his conservative views as a lawmaker on issues ranging from constitutional rights to military and criminal justice.
Jean Guerrero of the Los Angeles Times says that we must find a way to talk to and persuade people on the other side of the political spectrum.
It has become an article of faith in left-wing and right-wing activist circles that a crucial way to counter the threat is by naming it. Republicans are no longer Republicans and Democrats are no longer Democrats. Instead, we’re all called fascists. But what if the threats we represent are rooted in this way we demonize one another? What if our perception of adversaries as mortal enemies is a delusion that creates its own reality and becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy? The two sides are not equally situated. Studies show Republicans have moved farther to the right than Democrats have to the left, and right-wing extremists are the most likely to embrace violence. The GOP is engaged in an assault on the bodily autonomy of women, people of color and transgender people. There is no comparable assault on people’s rights from Democrats, although many Republicans would disagree. But how can I hope to persuade Republicans to change their minds if I’m convinced they’re all extremists? Where I see fascists and neo-Nazis, I see no possibility for dialogue. Accurate as those labels may be, they also limit my ability to see an opponent’s potential for change. As Mónica Guzmán wrote in her book, “I Never Thought Of It That Way,” a guide for talking with our opponents, polarization is “the problem that eats other problems, the monster who convinces us that the monsters are us.”
I agree with Guerrero, but how do you talk to the type of people that endorse the type of rhetoric that Gabriella Ferrigine of Salon writes about in even the most tacit manner?
Far-right broadcaster Pete Santilli called on members of the military to execute former President Barack Obama, former Attorney General Eric Holder, and former National Security Advisor Susan Rice if former President Donald Trump is arrested. Trump in a lengthy rant on Truth Social over the weekend claimed he would be arrested in connection to the Manhattan district attorney's investigation into hush-money payments made to adult film star Stormy Daniels in the final stretch of the 2016 presidential campaign. Santilli responded on his show by calling for Trump's supporters in the military to rise up and round up Obama and his former administration officials and shoot them against a "concrete wall." "Get the military, whatever few are left that are gonna side with the people. You military personnel and you people with guns and badges and law enforcement will succumb to the will of the people," Santilli said in a clip flagged by Right Wing Watch.
Jeez, I wonder why he didn’t call out the names of the Currents (Joe Biden, Merrick Garland, and Jake Sullivan) as opposed to the Formers. What could be the possible reason for that?
Domingo Morel writes for The Conversation about negative consequences when state governments take over local school districts.
Tom Bartz and Michael Brächer of Der Spiegel now identify the crisis at Credit Suisse as possibly the harbinder of another global financial crisis.
Just how acute worries have become about Credit Suisse could be seen overnight from Wednesday to Thursday. The SNB quickly put together a package of 50 billion francs (the equivalent of 51 billion euros) to boost Credit Suisse’s liquidity in case customers continued to withdraw their assets. No details were provided regarding the conditions attached to the liquidity injection, but they were likely generous. As a sign of strength, the beleaguered bank also announced it was buying back up to 3 billion francs worth of debt. "Without SNB intervention, Europe would have had its own Lehman moment," says Volker Brühl, the managing director of the Center for Financial Studies who was active as an investment banker during the 2008 financial crisis. And the move produced the desired results for now: Credit Suisse share prices stabilized on Thursday, as did those of most other European financial institutions. In Frankfurt, Lagarde assured that "the euro area banking sector is resilient, with strong capital and liquidity positions" – only to then add: "In any case, our policy toolkit is fully equipped to provide liquidity support to the euro area financial system if needed." It remains unclear, though, whether a Lehman moment may ultimately materialize anyway, and what the consequences of the sudden panic on the markets might have for the real economy. "These events could very well lead to a recession," says economist Tiffany Wilding from Allianz subsidiary Pimco, one of the largest investors in the world.
Finally today, Ben Dooley of The New York Times reports that Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida paid an unannounced visit to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has galvanized Japan's foreign and defense policy, stoking concerns about the costs of geopolitical instability. Policymakers and the public alike are worried that the country would be unprepared to handle a crisis in its own backyard, whether North Korean aggression or an attempt by China to take the self-ruled island of Taiwan. The war has also raised concerns about Japan’s reliance on other countries for food and energy, most of which it imports. Prices for commodities such as natural gas jumped following the invasion, putting cost pressures on Japan’s production of electricity. In response, the country has pushed for closer relationships with its allies and broken a decadeslong deadlock in military spending, doubling its budget. It was a significant change for Japan, where the constitution limits the country’s ability to engage in military action and the public has long resisted any policies that even hinted at walking back its longstanding official stance of pacifism. The increase raised spending to around 2 percent of annual economic output, aligning Japan with members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The move was seen as signaling its preparedness to play a more active role in any military crisis in the Asia-Pacific region.
Have the best possible day, everyone!
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